The central Da Nang City People’s Court has sentenced a 39-year-old man to life in prison for using petrol to burn a young woman to death in April.

Nguyen Phuoc Thanh, of Da Nang’s Hai Chau District, received the sentence at his trial held last Saturday, nearly two months after he committed the inhumane crime.

The dead victim was a female acquaintance, Phan Thi Hai Yen, 23, of Da Nang’s Thanh Khe District.  

According to the indictment from the local prosecutor’s office, during the evening of April 20, after finishing work at a garage, Thanh arrived at the Dong Thoi Gian tea restaurant, where Yen was working, and asked to speak to her.

Yen came out to talk with Thanh, and he then poured a can of petrol on Yen’s head, set fire to her and escaped to central Nghe An Province.

Yen was taken to a hospital in a critical condition, with burns over 95 percent of her body. Despite intensive treatment and care, Yen died on April 21.

After Yen’s death, Thanh returned to Da Nang and gave himself up to police.

At the trial, Thanh told the jury that he had met Yen at the tea shop, where he frequently went to relax. Thanh tried to court Yen even though he knew that she already had a lover.

“I wanted Yen to belong to me,” Thanh told the court.

Thanh said he wanted to burn her as a warning after she told him that he should stop flirting with her as she “was about to get married.” He said he did not imagine the consequences of his action. “I pleaded guilty of my despicable crime.” The court judged that his act was very cruel and caused great anger among the public, so he had to be given a heavy punishment, although his lawyer asked the jury to give him a lighter sentence since he had handed himself in to police and he has two elderly parents to support.